Who Is Mullah Akhtar Mansoor The New Leader Of The Taliban

Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, the newly named chief of the Taliban

Sami Yousafzai, Daily Beast: Up Close With the Taliban’s Next King

Over the last 21 years I’ve had many encounters with the man who will now head the Afghan Taliban fighting the U.S.-backed government in Kabul. What lies behind his dark glasses?

The first time I met Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor, the new leader of the Afghan Taliban, was in 1994, as the movement was just taking shape and before he’d decided to join. He came to my father’s Islamic bookshop in the Jalozai refugee camp for Afghans near Peshawar, Pakistan. He was about 25, appeared serious and was not so slender as the other students with him. He wore a big shalwar kamiz, the typical Pashtun clothing, and he wore sunglasses which was not really typical at all. In this part of the world, people like to see each other’s eyes.

This was the same man, you will recall, who hid the death of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, for more than a year. But of course that was much later.

More News On Mullah Akhtar Mansoor The New Leader Of The Taliban

Taliban leader: Who is Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansoor? -- AP
Mullah Akhtar Mansoor: Taliban's new leader has a reputation for moderation -- The Guardian
Who is 'new Taliban leader' Mullah Akhtar Mansoor? -- The Telegraph
Afghanistan: Who is new Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour? -- IBTimes
Who is Mullah Akhtar Mansoor? -- Ary News
Mullah Mansoor: A look at the new leader of Taliban -- Times of India
Q&A: A Look at the New Leader of Afghanistan's Taliban -- AP